Automobile starting device.



. by ////j I 0,' B. WILooX. AUTOMOBILE STARTING DEVIGIL APPLICATION FILED JUNE 10, 1910.

.989,678,- Patented Apr.18,1911.

Witnesses Inventor I Attoneys I To all whom it may concerni- UNITED STATES PATENT oEE-icE.

CLARK B. WILOOX, 0F UNION CITY, MICHIGAN.

AUTOMOBILE STARTING DEVICE.

Specification of LettersPatent. Patented Apr. 18, 1911.

Application filed June 10, 1910. Serial No. 566,183.

Be it known that I, CLARK B. Winoox, a citizen of the United States, residing at Union City, in the county of Branch and State of Michigan, have invented a new and useful Automobile Starting Device, of which the followingis a specification.

Thisinvention relates to starting devices for explosive Vengines such as used ordinarily for operating motor vehicles and one of the objects of the invention is to provide means whereby air under pressure may be utilized for the purpose of giving the'initial impulse to the'engine.

Another object is to provide starting mechanism which is durable and compact in construction and can be readily applied to v different forms of explosive engines.l

A further objectis to provide a starting device Which can be readily controlled by the operator. I

lith these and other objects in view the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims. 1

In the accompanying drawings the pre-v ferred -form of the lnvention has been shown.

In sald drawings ;-F1gure 1 is a side elevvation of the mechanlsm, its ,connectlons with the motor, pump and reservoir being shown diagrammatically. Fig. 2 is an enlarged central longitudlnal section throughy the controlling device.

Fig. 3 is a section'on line A-.-B Fig. 2.

vReferring to the figures by characters "of" reference 1 designates a casing, preferably cylindrical and closedat its ends by heads 2 and 3, there being aeconcentric distributing drum v4 secured within the casing and closed at its ends by the heads.

l Ihat portion ofthe structure between the casing 1 and the drum4 constitutes a storage reservoir in which air adapted to becom- Apressed by a pump 5 operated through gears 6 or the like by the drive shaft 7 of the engine' 8. Ports-9 are formed inthe head and are equal in number to the number of the cylinders of the engine, each of these ports being connected to one of the cylinders t'by means' of a pipe 10. Each port 9, extends f longitudinally Within the drum 4 and opens into a valve` seat 11 formed in the peripheral portion lof the drum, one of these valve seats being provided for eachcylinder of, the

engine 8 and each seat having a valve 12l normally bearing thereon. A stem 13 projects from each valve and into the interior of the drum 4 and another stem 14 projects outwardly from each valve and is mounted within a guide strip 15, therebeing a'spring 16 upon the stem 14 for holding the valve 12 normally upon its seat, the valve when thus seated, closing the porti) which opens into the said seat. The valve stems 13 are all disposed in the same transverse plane, and a shaft 17 extends between these stems and is journaled in the centers of the heads 2 and 3,

this shaft being adapted to receive motionA through gears 18, sprockets or other suitable l elements from the shaft- 7, the power transmitting elements being preferably so proportioned as to drive the shaft 17 at one half the speed of the shaft 7. This 'shaft 17 is mounted for slidingV movement as well as for lrotation, it being understood that the gear thereon is feathered so as to permit suchl v sliding movement. A cam 19 is secured upon the shaft 17 at a point Within the drum 4 and is adapted, when said shaft is rotated, to successively contact With the stems 13 and unseat them. A spring 2O surrounds a portion of the shaft and bears at one end against the cam 19 and `aty its other end ,against the head 2, this spring thus serving As has heretofore been stated, the number I of ports .9 and valves 12 equal the num-4 ber of cylinders ofthe engine, and these valves are so arranged as Vto be opened or unseated in proper succession by the cam 19 and iii the order that their cylinders take' compression. Under ordinary conditions the shaft 17 rotates Without causing the cam to unseat the valve. sired to start the engine, the bell crank lever 25 is shifted bymeans of thel stem 26 and the shaft 17 is thus shiftedlongitudinally so as to bring the cam 19 intopositionbetween ,the vstems 13. As the shaft rotates'it, will shift stem 13 to successively unseat theV However When it is devalves l2. The/.air .which has been comy pressed within the outer casing 1 by 4the pump 5 will then rush through the open port and into the proper cylinder of the engine so as to start the engine. In orderthat the cam may not hang upon stem-13 when it is shifted with the shaft 17, the 'advancing facev of the. cam is preferably beveled as clearly indicated at 28 in Fig. 2.

Although in the drawings only two valves-- and two cylinders have been shown it is to be understood that any desired number of valves may be employed, this depending lupon the number of 'cylinders of the engine.

It will ,be apparent of course that as soon as the stem 26 1s released, the spring 20 will 'ing cylinder having yports connected to the respective cylinders of the engine, a compressed air container surrounding said distributing cylinder, valves for closingthe re-v:

"spective ports, a member mounted for rota'-` -tion 4within the distributing cylinder, Ameansfor v,transmitting motion thereto from the engine, and means for manually.. shifting said member toward the valves to unseat` the` valve in the path thereof and admit air from the container to the opened port.

vice, and place its 2. An engine starter includinga distributing drjum"having ports *opening into the respective cylinders of lan, -engine, a container extendingaround the drum and for holding air under ressure, spring controlled 'valves-for norma y closing communication between the ports and the container,` a shaft revolubly' mounted within" the drum` and actuated by the engine, manually operated means for shiftingthe shaft inone direction, f

and means movable with thesha'ft for engaging and unseating the valve in, the path thereofduring the manual actuation of 73. An engine starter including a distribute ing drum having separate po'rts opening into the respective cylindersof an engine, 'spring ,controlledvalves normally closing said ports,

`an air container extending around the drum, v

a pump, means operated byl the engine for driving-the pump yto compress air within the container,l a shaftmounted-for rotation in the drum, means for. transmitting motionthereto from the engine, a valve unseating device secured to thefshaft 'and having a beveled working face, and manually operated means for shifting the shaftk longitudinally,l to unseat the valve in thepath of said 4de- Y portin communication with the container;

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I-have hereto affixed my signature .in the presence of two witnesses.;

Witnesses:

' H. T. CARPENTER,

G. H'. LOWELL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the "Qonmissiener of Iatentsz Washington, D. C. 'y

ernia;v B. wILooX; 

